The following publication is representative of the most relevant prior art known to the Applicants at the time of filing of the application.
Resinoid Wheel Fillers, N. P. Robie,
Grinding and Finishing, December 1961.
Metal billets are prepared for rolling mill operations by having their surface imperfections such as shrinkage cracks, crevices resulting from the casting operations and oxidized areas ground away. This preliminary grinding process is performed on manually manipulated or manually controlled power driven machines adapted to produce very high pressure and high surface speed at the grinding face of the wheel so that these snagging wheels must be made to be very rugged and durable. Special heavy duty abrasives have been developed for snagging grinding and likewise special resin bonds have been found to be especially durable for use in making snagging wheels.
The most useful of the conventional snagging wheels known to date are made with cofused alumina-zirconia abrasive grains distributed throughout a phenol-formaldehyde bond mixture polymerized under very high pressure and the necessary temperature conditions. Such wheels are used for snagging metal billets and it has been found that certain additives may be included in the raw batch mix from which the wheels are made, which additives are present during the grinding operations and make the grinding operation more efficient.
Various kinds of these grinding aids have been suggested for use in snagging wheel compositions for grinding of all types of metal products. A comprehensive discussion of conventional grinding wheel fillers and their function in enhancing the grinding operation of various forms of vitrified and resin bonded grinding wheels for various kinds of grinding operations, is set forth in the article "Resinoid Wheel Fillers" by N. P. Robie published in the December 1961 issue of Grinding and Finishing. On page 45 of this publication, a list of U.S. patents is set forth and the particular filler or grinding aid covered respectively in the listed patents, is named.
While the grinding aids disclosed herein have been found to be particularly useful for grinding titanium billets, these fillers will serve also for the grinding of other metals.
Typical hot pressed, resin bonded snagging wheels available today for grinding titanium billets include a mixes as indicated by compositions A and B in the following:
TABLE I ______________________________________ Vol. % Standard Bonds Ingredient Composition A Composition B ______________________________________ Alumina-Zirconia Abrasive, 57.60 57.60 6-16 mesh Phenol-formaldehyde resin 23.81 21.89 Powdered Silicon Carbide 9.22 5.76 filler (-325 mesh) Powdered Cryolite, -- 6.53 Na.sub.3 AlF.sub.6 Polyvinylidene Chloride 2.30 1.15 Powdered Quick Lime (CaO) 3.07 3.07 Chopped Fiberglass 4.00 4.00 ______________________________________
Wheels as described above are used for snagging iron, steel and other commercial metals when processed to form hard durable hot pressed grinding wheels. The Mix B has been found to be more useful for grinding titanium which is a difficult metal to grind for the reason that it has a high affinity for oxygen and oxidation occurs during the grinding process to produce heat that adds to the heat generated by the frictional grinding operation itself. Since the titanium metal has a relatively low thermal conductivity as compared to ferrous alloys for example, this mechanically and chemically caused build up of heat is objectionable because it accelerates wear of the abrasive grains and damages the resin bond of the wheel. Also the grinding of titanium causes problems because of the shearing characteristics of this metal which necessitates a greater expenditure of energy at the grinding interface while producing thinner chips as compared with ferrous type metals. Thus higher unit grinding forces must be produced between the snagging wheel and a titanium billet as compared with the snagging of iron and steel billets. Thus, the difficulty of grinding titanium as compared with snagging ferrous metals may be characterized by the problems resulting from somewhat higher temperatures, titanium's extreme chemical reactivity, and the high unit pressures that must be exerted to effect its grinding. These problems cause poor wheel life, a low grinding ratio and result in higher costs for the snagging of titanium as compared with the snagging of ferrous billets.
The present invention provides a grinding wheel composition particularly adapted for the grinding of titanium billets but which also has advantages when used for the grinding of other metals. The use of the novel grinding aid means described below renders the snagging wheels here described more resistant to the deleterious effects of temperature and pressure and provides a lower cost additive as compared with those used in the best snagging wheels known today.